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ISTANBUL – On Friday, President and Chair of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) Reta Jo Lewis concluded a successful weeklong visit to Istanbul, Turkey. Anchoring the visit was participation in the 2022 Berne Union Spring Meeting, the first in-person gathering of the organization’s global export credit members since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the conference, Chair Lewis headlined a plenary session and spoke about her vision for this new chapter of EXIM. She reinforced the agency’s commitment to modernizing and leading on key issues affecting economic security and prosperity. She discussed the importance of fulfilling the agency’s mission and mandates that arose from the 2019 reauthorization, especially for small businesses, minority and women-owned business, Sub-Saharan Africa and competing with China. Chair Lewis also championed EXIM’s first signature initiative of her tenure, the Make More in America Initiative.

While at the Berne Union conference, EXIM signed a co-financing agreement with France’s export agency, Bpifrance. The commitment renewed a previous framework originally put in place in 2008 with Bpifrance’s predecessor agency. The agreement will open new avenues to partner on projects in key sectors like renewable energy and help to support a “one-stop shop” for possible co-financed transactions.

Chair Lewis also held engagements with leaders from nearly two dozen export credit agencies, EXIM customers and Turkish trade associations like TÜSİAD, AmCham Turkey and the Turkey-U.S. Business Council (TAİK). In these discussions, Chair Lewis outlined key commercial partnership priorities of the United States, including President Biden’s global infrastructure initiative.

Finally, Chair Lewis met with United States Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake to explore ways in which to bring better whole-of-government solutions to the diplomatic relationship with Turkey. She complimented the Ambassador on all the work and in-country partnership offered through the United States Mission Turkey, both from the Department of State and the U.S Commercial Service in the Department of Commerce.

ABOUT EXIM:

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is the nation’s official export credit agency with the mission of supporting American jobs by facilitating U.S. exports. To advance American competitiveness and assist U.S. businesses as they compete for global sales, EXIM offers financing including export credit insurance, working capital guarantees, loan guarantees, and direct loans. As an independent federal agency, EXIM contributes to U.S. economic growth by supporting tens of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt. Learn more at www.exim.gov.